


Insufferable

by Tarlan



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Community: fanfic100, Episode Related, Episode: s08e20 Moebius (2), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-03
Updated: 2009-11-03
Packaged: 2017-10-21 09:33:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/223718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the time-line was never corrected?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Insufferable

**Author's Note:**

> For **sg_rarepairings site=livejournal.com** #553 Daniel Jackson/Rodney McKay - insufferable and **fanfic100** #99. Writer's Choice

Daniel hadn't known quite what to expect when the military turned up at his English class and cited national security before manhandling him into a car with darkened windows. From there he was hustled onto a military jet and within hours he was in an elevator dropping at least 20 floors inside a secret mountain complex in Colorado.

What followed next was some of the most unbelievable and yet exciting moments of his life, hearing stories of Stargates, aliens and Ancient Egypt so fanciful that they would have put his theories to shame if they had not already followed that same path. As he'd said to Samantha, he'd always felt cheated by life and now he knew that feeling was based on the truth. The Daniel Jackson on the video camera, which had been in a vacuum-sealed Coptic jar in a recent archaeological discovery, was so self-assured. It was as if he knew he had nothing to prove to anyone and was respected by his peers--and he was out there saving the world. It was all so amazing; apart from the fact that he'd inadvertently managed to change the world in the process.

The only killjoy to this amazing experience was Rodney McKay.

The man was insufferable. Daniel had known McKay for barely two minutes before he decided that they were never going to get along. The man hadn't even accepted Daniel's offer of his hand held out in greeting, being completely infatuated with Samantha instead. Admittedly, Daniel felt sorry for Samantha but at least McKay's interest in her meant Daniel didn't have to deal with the arrogant man. Instead he was left to his own devices, working away in a cluttered room filled with books and manuscripts delivered on request. Of course, he should have realized that the military had no intention of trying to alter the timeline back to the way it was meant to be. No doubt the order had come direct from Kinsey, who had been less than thrilled to hear that Hayes was President of the US rather than him. Obviously, he'd not fared so well in the original timeline and had no plans to put himself back into that same position. Hayes had resigned from his office as Secretary of the Interior soon after, citing personal reasons, and Daniel had no doubt that Kinsey was behind that political maneuver.

They'd found the second Stargate exactly where Samantha had stated it would be after cross-referencing the dialing of the gateship to the seismic activity in Antarctica. By rights, Daniel knew his involvement in all this should have ended there but, surprisingly, he was still here in Cheyenne Mountain, tucked away in this musty room with most everything he had ever wanted. Damn, but he'd almost forgotten how much he loved the smell of old books and paper. Unfortunately, it seemed he had McKay to thank for his continued tenure. Samantha had gone though, probably back to her former life in Washington. As much as McKay had liked her sexy librarian look, he had hated being upstaged by her regarding the second Stargate and had decided he didn't want the competition. Or maybe it was because she finally got up the courage to slap McKay's face when he pinched her ass for the third time.

Daniel wasn't competition.

He suspected he wasn't even a real scientist as far as McKay was concerned, so it was a shock to look up from a crumbling manuscript written in an very old dialect to find McKay standing on the threshold and eying him curiously. Daniel pushed his glasses higher up his nose and tilted his head questioningly.

"Can I help you?"

McKay snorted. "I don't think so but as lead scientist I have to show some interest in what you're doing. Which is what, exactly?"

Daniel raised both eyebrows in surprise. "I'm cross-referencing material from Ancient Gr---"

"Yes, yes. Good. I feel enlightened already. Carry on." McKay started to turn away, obviously feeling that his duty by Daniel was fulfilled for the time being.

"It really is fascinating stuff. If I'm right then Atlantis wasn't just a city; it was a spaceship. A flying city, drawing its power from three of those ZPM... things, like the one that was found in the cave with the video camera."

McKay had turned back. "A flying city." He looked skeptical so Daniel nodded. "If legend stands correct then didn't it not so much fly as sink?"

"The legend never says it was destroyed, only that it sank."

"Hmm."

"Submarines sink," Daniel added, just to clarify, "And we are talking about the Ancients, the ones who built an entire network of these Stargates across the galaxy. They had to have been able to reach the planet to put in a Stargate."

McKay had drawn further into the room. "Which means they had space travel, and if the city was capable of the same then it would have been airtight."

"Exactly."

McKay stabbed a finger at him. "Aah! But you're assuming that this flying city was also a spaceship."

Daniel quickly rummaged through the papers spread out on his large desk. He gave a small triumphant sound when he located the one he sought and held it up, his finger underlining some of the symbols. "And a terrible plague...pestilence brought them low, and they fled into the darkness between the stars in the heart of their great city."

"Atlantis," McKay was seated now, with his blue eyes filled with wonder and intrigue.

"Atlantis," Daniel echoed, and smiled. "I think we can go there."

The eyes widened further as Daniel began to write out an address gleaned from several months of research through old manuscripts, some of which that had been denied to him in the past due to their fragility. He knew that he might never had made sense of the symbols in the past because he'd had no context for them, but Sam had explained the meaning of seven address symbols.

"Seven symbols...an address."

"Not exactly." He scribbled in one more just before the origin symbol. "If I'm right then this is further away than we thought possible."

McKay grabbed the pad and stared hard, eyes flicking as his thoughts turned inwards to make mental calculations. Daniel had to admit that the dreamy look suited McKay, and he also had to admit that all that brain power really was very attractive. McKay had never shied from telling everyone he was a super genius, and from what Daniel had seen and heard, he had no doubts about that. What McKay lacked, though, was common sense. Someone to rein him in when he started over-complicating or narrowing his focus rather than looking outside the box. That was why Sam had seen the connection between the gateship dial-outs and the seismic activity in Antarctica.

"Why did you let Sam go?" he asked quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Samantha Carter. Sexy librarian?"

McKay sat back and stared hard at Daniel.

"Despite rumors to the contrary...Sloppy workmanship." He waved a hand. "We needed a dialing device... other than the gateship. She was playing fast and loose with the protocols." He paused and smiled crookedly. "When I step into an elevator I'm relying on the operator program to hit the emergency brakes if the main brakes fail. She was ignoring many of the failsafe protocols just to get the Stargate dialing computer operational faster." He shifted uncomfortably. "I...may be a petty man on occasion... but I don't trifle with people's safety."

Daniel nodded, feeling some of the resentment he was carrying towards McKay fade away.

"Anyway, it's not like I sent her to Siberia, or even back to that dead-end job in Washington. She's at Area 51 looking at some of the alien technology uncovered near Giza."

"Why did you let me stay?"

McKay shifted uncomfortably again and waved his hand at all the dusty books and manuscripts.

"Not my field of expertise." He held up a finger. "Not that I wouldn't be exceptionally talented if I chose to pursue that vocation." He folded his arms and lifted his chin with a smug expression. "I speak three languages and have a good grasp of several more...including this Ancient script. Though I'll admit that you're not totally useless and could possibly... _possibly_ ," he emphasized, "Understand it a little better than me."

"Why thank you," Daniel murmured, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his tone.

"Hmm." McKay pushed up and rubbed his hands together. "Well. Must be off to check on the rest of my minions."

Daniel bit back on a smile. Definitely insufferable, and yet he had a feeling he was actually starting to like McKay.

****

From what Daniel had learned, it had taken time to convince President Kinsey to allow them to actually open the Stargate to another world. Daniel could understand the arguments against its use as the video had made it pretty clear that the Earth had been caught up in several planetary--and galactic--battles since the alternate time-line SG-1 team had stepped through the Stargate. The coincidence couldn't be denied as the same could not be said for this current time-line, which would not have even known of the Stargate's existence had it not been for the video. There had been no Apophis or Anubis battling over the planet, and Kinsey saw no need for Earth to start fighting the battles of other worlds, slavery or not.

On the other hand, the possibility of possessing powerful alien technology would give certain countries superior weaponry in the event of another world war. That same technology might also protect the planet if it had been simply a matter of time before those Goa'uld came calling with the intention of re-enslaving the planet. All this had to be taken into consideration and was a far more persuasive argument than going through the Stargate simply to know what was out there, to stand on new worlds and study new cultures, new languages. Or perhaps gain insight into their own history through the knowledge gleaned from people stolen from Earth to populate those other worlds all those millennia ago.

What had surprised Daniel was that Hammond had authorized training for him, teaching him how to handle a gun and hold his own in a fight. He would never be a good fighter, and he kind of hated carrying a weapon at all but he understood the necessity as it hinted towards him being included on the first mission. He knew it would be his job to figure out a way to bring them home--to find the correct dialing sequence for Earth from whatever planet they managed to lock onto.

What should have been another surprise was how quickly he had come to enjoy McKay's company since that talk in his office. First McKay started dropping around more often and helping himself to Daniel's good coffee. Before too long they were meeting in the cafeteria on a coffee break, and then for the occasional lunch, sharing work insights and occasional glimpses into personal lives. He learned that McKay had a childhood allergy to lemons that he had, thankfully, grown out of, and a sister who was as brilliant as him but who had chosen to have babies instead, much to Rodney's disgust--and it was _Rodney_ now rather than McKay. In return, Daniel had mentioned losing his parents in an accident at a museum.

He didn't realize how far they had come in their relationship until the day Rodney leaned in and kissed him softly, tentatively before pulling back nervously.

Daniel blinked because this wasn't the brash, heavy-handed, lecherous approach that Rodney had taken with Sam. This wasn't the bordering on sexual harassment, ass-pinching and dirty talk that Sam had mentioned to Daniel in disgust.

"Well, that was unexpected."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. I'll..." Rodney hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "I'll just go now."

Daniel blinked again as Rodney turned away, and reached out to grab his arm, pulling him back. "Wait! Unexpected but not necessarily unwanted." He narrowed his eyes in confusion and stared deep into Rodney's eyes, forcing Rodney to look at him. "Samantha?"

Rodney's eyes went a little unfocused. "She was incredibly hot, wasn't she?" His eyes cleared and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "But I don't do...erhm...meaningful relationships with women."

Daniel moved right into Rodney's personal space and leaned around him, firmly pushing the door closed behind him and locking it. As someone used to dealing with semantics, and knowing Rodney was usually very clear with his wording, he knew Rodney meant exactly what he said. In contrast, gender was immaterial to Daniel. He could enjoy either gender equally as long as there was physical and mental attraction--and he felt both of those for Rodney.

He pulled off his glasses and dropped them down onto the manuscript-littered table before reaching out to draw Rodney into another kiss, one far less chaste. He was almost relieved when Rodney melted into the kiss with a heartfelt, "oh thank god," mumbled against Daniel's lips. His fingers ran through Daniel's hair until he could cup the back of his head, holding him with the strength and gentleness of a man used to dealing with delicate machinery. Daniel's hold on Rodney was just as sure as the kiss deepened, bodies moving together, pressing from chest to hip but he wanted more contact. He wanted to feel Rodney's response and pushed a leg between the strong thighs--moaning as he felt the hard cock through the layers of clothing.

It took every ounce of control that Daniel possessed to pull back, almost shaking with the need to press against warm, naked flesh, not wanting to come in his pants like a randy teenager. He pushed the over-shirt Rodney was wearing off one shoulder, waiting until Rodney got the message before pulling off his own wool vest and shirt, and dragging Rodney back in for another heated kiss when both of them were naked from the waist up. Hands fumbled at belts and fastenings as they kicked off their shoes--pushing frantically at pants and boxers in an ungainly dance that would have brought looks of horror if they hadn't been so desperate. Naked, they pushed back against each other, one hand splayed across Rodney's back while the other clasped one firm ass cheek--a perfect handful, so perfect that Daniel had to cup the other cheek too. He thrust tightly against Rodney, glorying in the hardness aligned against his own rigid shaft, and trapped between their bodies. The urgency overwhelmed him, fear of discovery and too long an abstinence exciting him beyond all reason and he came hard. A soft cry muffled as Rodney bit down on Daniel's shoulder, body pushing hard against Daniel, hands griping almost too painfully tight as a fresh flood of warmth spread between them.

They collapsed onto the cot in the corner of the room, crumpling and scattering papers that were, fortunately, neither irreplaceable nor priceless.

Daniel leaned up and stroked a finger down the center of Rodney's sweaty chest, feeling the soft hairs against the pad of his fingertips. He circled one peaked nipple, watching Rodney squirm delightfully as the touch. Next time--if there was a next time--Daniel intended to take it slow. He intended to play with the pale, soft body lying sated beneath him, lapping at his nipples, opening him with his fingers curling against that sensitive gland inside, and drawing out the pleasure until Rodney couldn't take it another second. Then he would suck Rodney until he spilled down his throat before slaking his own lust deep inside the lax and pliant body.

"Oh yeah," Rodney whispered roughly, and Daniel realized he'd spoken his desire aloud.

The musk of male sex hung heavy in the air, mingling with the musty smell of paper and old books as he dropped his head onto Rodney's broad chest and closed his eyes as he basked in the afterglow.

****

Daniel stood in the gate room before the Stargate, geared up in military green with a handgun strapped to his thigh. He fiddled nervously with his notebook before pushing it into a pocket on his TAC vest. Behind him, Colonel O'Neill was checking the straps of Daniel's backpack before slapping him on the arm.

Daniel was still unsure on how they managed to persuade O'Neill to join the team, but maybe retirement on a clapped out fishing boat wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Maybe O'Neill needed greater purpose to his life. Still, Daniel was relieved as of all of them, O'Neill was the most like his counterpart on the video, and that meant Daniel could trust him to watch his back.

As the circle began to spin, locking in the chevrons, Daniel looked back up at the control room and saw his lover standing close to the window, watching him with a crooked downturn to his lips. Resolutely, he gave Rodney a thumb's up, having given a more intimate goodbye a few hours earlier, holding Rodney tight as he emptied himself deep inside his lover's body.

Daniel held Rodney's gaze a moment longer until O'Neill's hand slapped down on his shoulder.

"Time to move out."

The new SG-1--consisting of O'Neill, Daniel, Major Lorne and Lieutenant Cadman--walked up the ramp side by side. When they reached the top, Daniel glanced back up at the control room and saw Rodney raise a hand in farewell. Despite a sudden urge to simply run back down the ramp, Daniel knew he had to go though with this. He needed to know what was out there but equally, as he smiled warmly at his lover, he was glad he had something--someone wonderfully insufferable--to make him want to find a way back home.

END


End file.
